Game Center CX Season 1 – Back to Contents
#1
Taito

The inaugural episode of Game Center CX is quite a doozy. We’re briefly introduced to our navigator Arino before he steps into Taito headquarters. He marvels over the Space Invaders machine at the entrance until the game’s creator, Tomohiro Nishikado, steps into view. The two enter the interview room and discuss the impact of Space Invaders on the market, and even the myriad games that tried to capitalize on its popularity. Afterward, Arino and Nishikado engage in a Space Invaders score attack.

Arino’s next interview is with Akira Saito, one of the creators of the Densha de GO! series. Much about the series is discussed, including its obsessive fans. After the talk, Arino tries out Densha de GO! 3 under Saito’s guidance.

Arino’s visit to Taito continues as he tries to find anyone who was behind Takeshi no Chousenjou, one of the most infamous(ly bad) Famicom games ever. No one from the actual development staff is around the company anymore (or so they say), so Arino is forced to talk to one of the sales staff, Tetsuo Egawa. He’s charismatic, but only has secondhand stories to tell, so while not very interesting, it is entertaining.

To find out more surrounding the legend of Takeshi no Chousenjou, Arino takes a trip down to Ohta Publishing and talks to Kazuhiro Hayashi, editor from the magazine CONTINUE. Hayashi presents the game’s strategy guides — both printed within mere weeks of each other, due to the game’s incredible complexity.

Chousen

We are then brought to a Fuji TV conference room, where Arino has his own Famicom and gets ready to try and complete Takeshi no Chousenjou. Armed with the manual and both of the guides, he jumps in.

The first big challenge Arino comes across is to sing the same karaoke song correctly about three times, but it takes him over 30 to finally nail it. After that, a message appears on a blank screen. Arino must leave the game on for one hour without pressing any buttons, or it’s back to karaoke. Unfortunately, when he comes back from the hour-long break, he pushes on the controller a bit prematurely. After being forced to do everything one more time, he finally succeeds and is able to proceed.

Things shift to a shooting stage, and it’s here where Arino tends to fail the most. The Game Over screen is seen often, but eventually he makes it through to a new jungle area. As he makes his way through, he pauses for a moment to check the guide, yet when he looks up, the screen changes to a cartoon Takeshi head, who says "why would you take a game like this so seriously?" This is the end. Beat Takeshi is a jerk.